CMS NEWS

This page is reserved for news of the Church Monuments Society: news about people, places, new books, AGM minutes, annual accounts, diary of events etc. Anything that is not an event as such. Please let me know if there is anything relevant you may wish me to add. Details of events of the CMS and related societies, publications of the Society, more detailed book news, resources, the essay prize, monument of the month, symbolism, a glossary, geology, links and the latest updates may be found by clicking on the links to your left.
 

Metal Theft from Churches

Although the following Govenment e-petition is not specifically about theft from churches but rather about metal theft in general - such as, alarmingly, railway signalling cables - it is certainly relevant to churches with monumental brasses and other metal monuments and artifacts. As these can never be replaced, members and others might like to consider this petition, which is on the following site:

http://epetitions.direct.gov.uk/petitions/406

The Society is delighted to announce that Council Member Rhianydd Biebrach has been awarded the degree of Doctory of Philosophy. The subject of her thesis was Monuments and Commemoration in the Medieval Diocese of Llandaff c. 1200 - c. 1540. I'm sure we will all wish to send our congratulations to Rhianydd for gaining this well deserved degree. Well done!

A fund set up in memory of Dr Claude Blaire CVO OBE MA LittD FSA, our senior Vice President who died recently, for the conservation of an armoured effigy.

To make a donation, please send a cheque to:

If you are a UK taxpayer, it would significantly increase the value of the donation if you would kindly fill in a Gift Aid form and send it with your cheque. Click here for the Gift Aid form.

Non-UK residents can sent either a stering cheque, or pay via Paypal, as follows:
1. Log into http://www.paypal.co.uk (or the equivalent country from which you are paying) and set up your own PayPal account if you have not already done so.
2. Clink on the tab: 'send funds'
3. In the 'tp' box for recipient type: mthompson@richardsonsurveyors.co.uk
4. In the 'Amount' box type 'xxx GDP' to give the amount of your donation.
5 In the 'Purchase' box click on 'Services' and click 'Continue'
6. At the bottom of the next page in the message box type: 'For the Claude Blaire Memorial Conservation Fund' and click on 'Send money'
7. You will get a confirmatory e-mail as proof of your payment.

BOOK OFFER - CMS MEMBERS

Monumental Industry: The Production of Tomb Monuments in England and Wales in the Long Fourteenth Century, S. Badham & S. Oosterwijk (eds)
This important new collection of essays focuses on the production of church monuments in the 'long fourteenth century' rather than on the interests of the patrons that have been the primary centre of attention in most recent work. By the fourteenth century, medieval tomb production was a veritable industry in its own right. Monuments were no longer the prerogative of royalty, the higher ranking clergy, and founders of religious houses, but were accessible to a wider selection of society. The contributors have adopted a variety of perspectives for their studies. Whereas some espouse an archaeological approach, other essays are art-historical, with excerpts from literary texts providing further comparisons. Several authors use the results of petrological analysis to underpin their conclusions, while drawing links between monumental sculpture and other surviving sculpture of the period, the potential of both of which have not hitherto received sufficient attention. Surface finishes are also discussed. Moreover, full transcriptions and translations are provided of all the known tomb contracts of the period, together with commentaries on the monuments, those commemorated by them, and the craftsmen who made them. Medieval commemoration and tomb monuments are attracting increased interest from scholars. This corpus of cutting-edge research will shed new light on an aspect of medieval craftsmanship which, for the most part, can be seen only through a glass darkly. Published May 2010. 288 + xv pages with 80 pages, the majority in colour.

CONTENTS
Sally Badham & Sophie Oosterwijk	Introduction
Sally Badham	What constituted a 'Workshop' and How Did Workshops Operate? Some Problems and Questions.
Aleksandra McClain	Cross Slab Monuments in the Late Middle Age: Patronage, Production and Locality in Northern England
Mark Downing	Military Effigies in Eastern England: Evidence of a High-Status Workshop of c. 1300-1350
Robin Emmerson	The Fourteenth-Century Tomb Effigies at Aldworth, Berkshire and their Relationship to the Figures on the West Screen of Exeter Cathedral
Rhianydd Biebrach	Effigial Monuments in Fourteeth-Century Glamorgan: Patronage, Production and Plague
Jane Crease	'Not Commonly Reputed or Taken for a Sainte': the Output of a Northern Workshop in the Late Fourteenth and Early Fifteenth Centuries
Marie Lousise Sauerberg, Ray Marchant and Lucy Wrapson	The Tester over the Tomb of Edward, the Black Prince: the Splendour of Late Medieval Polychrome in England
Sally Badham & Sophie Oosterwijk	'Cest Endenture Fait Parentre': English Tomb Contracts of the Long Fourteenth Century

Click here for order form

New Shire Books on Monuments

March 2011. Shire have republished Professor Brian Kemp's book on church monuments. As we might expect from both the author and the publisher, this is an excellent book, being both informative and well illustrated. Shire have now also published Sally Badham's book on medieval church and churchyard monuments as well as Sally Badham's & Martin Stutchfield's book on monumental brasses. The illustrations in these latter two books are in colour. These three splendid volumes present an excellent introduction to the subject of church monuments at a very favourable price.

AGM Minutes & Annual Accounts

These can be found here.

Church Monuments Society Diary
This is the Church Monuments Society diary. Please note that this is provisional and for guidance only and that some events may change in the future. Colour Codes (CMS only): Excursions, Conferences, Council Meetings, Study Days, Symposia
Organisation	Event	Location	Organiser	Date
2012
Monumental Brass Society	Executive Council Meeting			January 21st
Monumental Brass Society	General Meeting	North Mimms & South Mimms		March 31st
Church Monuments Society	West Oxfordshire Excursion	West Oxfordshire	Sally Badham	April 14th
Church Monuments Society	Exeter Cathedral Study Day	Exeter, Devon	Clive Easter & Moira Gittos	May 19th
Monumental Brass Society	Executive Council Meeting			May 19th
Monumental Brass Society	Excursion	Suffolk		May 26th
Church Monuments Society	Excursion	South Yorks.	Messers Dodsworth, Farman & Hacker	June 23rd
Monumental Brass Society	AGM	Ely		July 21st
Ecclesiological History Society				July 9th-12th
	Leeds IMC			July 9th-12th
Harlaxton Medieval Symposium	The Medieval Merchant			July 23rd-26th
Church Monuments Society	Wales Symposium	Cardiff	Mark Downing	August 17th -19th
Monumental Brass Society	Study Day	Lydd, Kent		22nd September
Church Monuments Society	Excursion	East Anglia	Dr Julian Litten	October 13th
Monumental Brass Society	Executive Council Meeting			October 20th
Monumental Brass Society	General Meeting	Birmingham University		17th November
2013
Church Monuments Society	One day Conference Renaissance Monuments	London Senate House	Adam White	March
Church Monuments Society	Excursion	South Lincs	Mr Thompson & Dr Carrington	April
Church Monuments Society	Excursion	Hampshire	Prof. Brian Kemp	June
Ecclesiological History Society				8th - 11th July
	Leeds IMC			8th - 11th July
Harlaxton Medieval Symposium				16th - 20th July
Church Monuments Society	Study Day	Puddletown, Dorset		August
Church Monuments Society	Excursion	Cirencester	Drs Easter & Pridgeon	October
2014
Church Monuments Society	Excursion	Northamptonshire	Dr J. Wilson	TBA
Church Monuments Society	Excursion	Yorkshire		TBA
Church Monuments Society	Excursion	East Anglia		TBA
Ecclesiological History Society				7th - 10th July
	Leeds IMC			7th-10th July
2015
Church Monuments Society	Symposium	Canterbury	Mark Downing	August
Church Monuments Society	Excursion	South Wales	Dr R Biebrach	TBA
	Leeds IMC			July 13th-16th
Ecclesiological History Society				July 13th-16th